1. Brief Description Of The Prior Art
Various types of fishing hooks have previously been devised which are thought to yield improved results in retention capability for preventing fish from "throwing" the hook after initial contact and impalement thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,379,886 depicts a fish hook which has the hook portion bent laterally or curved.
Dunkelburger U.S. Pat. No. 2,490,583 is a composite three-barb fish hook. Each barb is deflected from the plane of the stamping from which the hook is made so that the fish hook assembly has a spiral-like twist to the three hooks.
2. Brief Description of the Preferred Embodiment
This invention provides a treble-barb fishing hook which, by reason of its geometric configuration, has enhanced retention capability to prevent a fish which has struck the bait and become impaled on the hook from disengaging the hook. Further, and importantly, as the fish attempts to spit out or throw the hook, the hook actually becomes more firmly and deeply impaled in the jaw of the fish so that fewer fish are lost when the hook of the present invention is used in fishing
Broadly described, the fishing hook of the present invention comprises a treble hook having three barbs which are symmetrically arranged and equidistantly spaced about the axis of a single shank portion to which each of the three barbs is connected by an intervening bight portion. Each of the bight portions of the hook is bent outwardly from the shank so as to lie in a plane which extends at an angle of from about 14.degree. to about 22.degree. to the axis of the shank. The barb carried on the opposite end of each bight portion from the end of the bight portion connected to the shank is angularly displaced from the plane in which the bight portion lies so as to be disposed in a plane which projects at an angle of from about 14.degree. to about 22.degree. to the plane of the bight portion.
As the fish which has struck the bait and has been impaled by the barb pulls on the hook or attempts to spit out the hook, the point penetrates at the angle of the canting or displacement of the barbs, and each time the fish pulls on the hook or tries to dislodge it by running or jumping, the points of the hook spiral, and thus the fish has, in almost all cases, two, and sometimes all three, barbs impaled in him.
An important object of the present invention is to provide an improved treble hook which has greater retention capability for retaining a fish which has struck the hook and become impaled on at least one of the barbs thereof. Another object of the invention is to substantially increase the ratio of catches per strike by the use of an improved treble hook by an angler while fishing.